Throughout this campaign I have encouraged people to stop listening to gossip, rumors, lies, and half-truths. Get your information straight from the source, because you never know how distorted the information will be by the time you receive it. I, along with many others, were disappointed at the low turnout for the Calcasieu Association of Educators School Board Candidates Public Forum--an incredibly important and well-publicized event . (Thank you to every person who worked tirelessly to make it happen.) Sadly, it seems that some folks took the light attendance as an opportunity to tell some interesting stories about what took place. For instance, many people were told that it was crystal clear (after hearing me speak) that I was PRO-COMMON CORE. Interesting. What I have realized is this: any time I attempt to educate people by providing basic information about Common Core and emphasizing the fact that the Calcasieu Parish School Board can only change curriculum (such as Eureka Math) and cannot get rid of the Common Core State Standards (only the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education [BESE] can do that)—I am labeled as PRO-COMMON CORE. Interesting. Apparently, for some individuals, there is something very wrong with allowing people to make up their OWN minds (rather than be coerced or bamboozled into thinking a certain way). Interesting. After the forum, members of “the usual crew” were quick to label me as loud and aggressive. Well, I had to do what I had to do amidst the heckling which, ironically, was compliments of “the usual crew.” In order to hear myself think, and drown out their shenanigans, I had to raise my voice and speak over them. “The usual crew” insists that they did not heckle me but, if you listen closely, they can be heard a few times. The video camera recording this footage was near the middle of this large auditorium and off to the side; yet, it managed to pick up some of the heckling that was taking place in front of the stage, but craftily a good distance away from the moderator. Interesting. My husband and children said I should have stopped talking, waited for the moderator to ask what was wrong, and then explained that I would continue only once the heckling stopped. That’s a great idea. However, with so many candidates participating, we were already on a tight schedule. Therefore, I opted to charge forward and get it done. Finally, to those who had a problem with my use of notes. If I had done like every other candidate and used my two-minute introduction to talk only about myself, I would not have needed notes. Since I chose to make better use of my time by educating the public on issues relevant to Common Core and the actual duties/powers of local school boards and their members, I used notes. Every word I wanted to say was important, and I was not about to risk leaving anything out.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 03:18:45 +0000
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